Smith took first place at the Virginia Mega Mile on Saturday, Aug. 23, a win that also gave him top spot in the American Motorcyclist Association flat track points standings.

Smith, 31, of Flushing, started from the back of the pack on his Kawasaki EX650 Saturday at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Virginia, only to take the lead in lap 4 and cruise to victory, finishing the 15-lap race in 10:47.347, more than two and half seconds ahead of second-place Jake Shoemaker.

"I needed to get to the lead in a hurry, so I was on the gas for sure," Smith told the AMA website after. "The first couple of laps were a blackout, I used all my tearoffs. I finally got into third and my bike was getting hot, but I just my head down and tried to stay out of the roost.

"That's not the way I wanted to do that. I think I had more dirt inside of my helmet than on the outside."

The win, Smith's fourth of the season, pushed him ahead of Clio native Jared Mees in the AMA Pro Flat Track Expert Top 10 points standings. Smith has 224 points, Mees 218, with three races to go on the 2014 flat track schedule.

Smith finished second at the Indy Mile on Aug. 8, his best finish since winning the Sacramento Mile in July for a fourth consecutive time and breaking the the track record held by former Flint racing legend Scott Parker.

Smith has raced since he was 8 years old and frequented the I-96 Speedway near Grand Rapids.